How To Say I Love You Without Words
by SweetDreamsMuse
Summary: Hermione was going about her life, minding her own business, when suddenly she finds herself quite on her own without the ability to talk. And just who is the person she runs into at this time? Why, none other than Draco Malfoy! DMHG
1. Prequel

I've been thinking about this for a while and finally decided to just give in and write it! As I'm sure you've assumed, I don't know Harry Potter or anything associated with it and, as a heads up, this is rated M for a reason – things might get steamy. Enjoy (:

Chapter One

"Perfect. Just perfect." Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes as she literally dragged herself up and away from her favorite comfy chair. No sooner had she seated herself, fully intent on reading her newest purchase from Flourish & Blotts, then had an owl began pecking incessantly at her window. Originally, Hermione had been elated at the sight, perceiving the owl to be carrying a letter from Harry or Ron, who were both currently working a top secret assignment as aurors in Romania. Unfortunately, however, the letter was merely a request for her presence at the Ministry of Magic, where she worked as one of the most respected attorneys of the wizarding world – if not _the_ most respected.

Although she loved her job and good she did for others, the constant amount of work was enough to drive even the Brightest Witch of the Age totally bonkers! Especially when she was working extremely high profile cases – as she was currently. Today had been her first day off in 17 days. 17 days! Or, at least, it was _supposed_ to be her first day off. Apparently it was no longer. Hermione sighed again as she begrudgingly threw open the door to her wardrobe and randomly picked out appropriate articles of clothing to wear, muttering incoherently all the while.

Her wardrobe was very plain and exceedingly simple – but that was just her style. She was classic. And she liked being that way. Just as she was about to floo to her office, she stopped to appraise herself in the full length mirror in the hall. She had dressed in a high waisted black pencil skirt and a fitted white button down blouse. Her hair was down, falling in waves around her, but she just didn't feel like putting it up today.

"Whatever," she mumbled, shrugging her shoulders as she made her way to the fireplace. _I can't believe they're calling me into work today!_ she thought as her office slowly appeared around her once she stepped through the green flames.

"Max!" she barked out as soon as she felt ground stabilize beneath her feet. "Max, could you get the files on Henderson? We might as well use this time to..." Hermione stopped midsentence as she realized she was presently talking to no one. Her gaze quickly swiped the room in its entirety, but her assistant was nowhere to be found. "Max?"

_This is strange_… Hermione had yet to work a day without Max in all of the three years since he had been hired by the firm. He was her right hand man, her go to guy. They were a tag team duo. It wouldn't be possible for either of them to be called into work without the other. And there was something else out of place. She didn't know what exactly at first, but as her eyes scanned her office once more, something niggled at her consciousness from the back of her mind. Something else wasn't right. Then she caught it. There was what appeared to be a tattered old book lying on the left corner of her desk. _I don't remember leaving that there?_

Cautiously she approached her desk. This book didn't at all seem familiar to her. Was it possible that Max left it there? Just in case, Hermione retrieve her wand from the band of her skirt. She didn't know why exactly, but the hairs on the back of her neck were standing on edge. She could practically feel the nervous energy pulsing through her body. Slowly, she reached out and picked up the book to peruse it. However, all previous thoughts were instantly thrown to the wayside when she immediately felt the recognizable sensation that her body was being pulled through a tube by her navel.

The book was a portkey.

Short I know! Just a little prequel – sorry I tried to briefly include a little background in there.

Review? Yes? No? Maybe so?


	2. Speechless

Chapter Two

Hermione sucked in a breath as she landed on the cold, hard ground with a thud. She immediately tensed up and surveyed her surroundings. However, all she could see was pitch black. She willed her eyes to strain through the darkness, her ears to hear even the slightest of sounds. _Shit._

It was around this time that she remembered that she was, in fact, a witch. Who could, in fact, perform magic. And was, in fact, holding a wand. She almost rolled her eyes at her own stupidity before muttering a simple spell. Instantly, a dim light erupted from the tip of her wand, illuminating a small space around her. She once again examined the room. Or what she suspected was a room. This time she could make out the faint profile of two bodies against the blackness. Now, as a jolt of fear ran down her spine, she was reconsidering having lit her wand. _Shit!_

"Hello?" Hermione wasn't sure if she should be speaking to the shadows or not, but she had no clue as to where she was and she wasn't about to just sit around and ignore the obvious. She had been set up. These people were either in the same situation as her or… they were her captors, but Hermione had never exactly tip toed through the damn tulips and she wasn't about to start now.

"It seems you've been causing some problems for us, Miss Granger." That little jolt of fear had now decided to transform into a monstrous current of terror at the sound of that voice resonating through the darkness. It wasn't the threat that Hermione was scared of. Oh no. She had had _plenty_ of death threats in her days, trust me. It was the way this man spoke, so calmly, so assuredly, that had her unnerved.

"What do you want?" Hermione boldly demanded, summoning all the Gryffindor courage she could muster. Narrowing her eyes, she held her wand defensively towards the origin of the voice. "Show yourselves!"

Hermione heard the click of a light switch and suddenly found herself squinting as the entire room lit up. She seemed to be in a large, industrial looking room, probably something like the basement of a warehouse or a factory. Immediately she noted possible routes of escape. For some reason, she highly doubted apparition to be an option, but there was a stairway just a bit away from her that led up to a door. That would have to be the best she could hope for. Given her current dilemma, she would gladly take whatever was on the other side of that door than spend one more minute down here.

Her eyes swiftly flung back to her kidnappers as she whispered the counterspell to put out her wand. She wanted to remember everything about them so that when she escaped, she could aid in their own captures. Merely six or seven feet in front of her stood two men. The one on the left was tall, but not abnormally tall, with jet black hair and a lean physique. His piercing blue eyes were darting around the room, as if he too were planning on escaping. Or perhaps, more correctly, he was anticipating her methods of fleeing. Hermione almost snarled in outrage at this thought. The man on the right, the one who seemed to be in charge of the heist, was built similarly to the first, but had deep green eyes and shaggy hair that was too dark to be considered blonde yet too light to be called brown. Hermione would bet all that she owned or could borrow that she had seen both of these men somewhere before. She just couldn't place where. As her mind reeled through possible places she knew them from, the not blonde yet not brunette spoke again.

"I'm afraid we're going to have to kill you now." He took a step closer to her, but Hermione instinctively took a step back, gripping her hand tighter around her wand. She didn't have much time to think and she knew there was no way she could defend herself from one without the other attacking. She'd have to somehow take them both out at the same time.

"I'm sorry to say this won't be pleasant." The man paused briefly as he considered his statement before smirking and adding "Well, not for you, at least." He took another step towards her and when Hermione backed away again, she sidestepped slightly towards the stairs. This did not go unnoticed by either of them.

"I don't think you'll be getting away that easily," the black haired man sneered, now brandishing his wand as well. "Besides, you don't want to leave now. Think of all the fun we're going to have!" Thinking was exactly what Hermione was doing. Her brain was on overdrive, she could practically feel the smoke building up behind her forehead. _Think Hermione! Think!_

"I hope you don't mind, but seeing as how we've decided to draw this out for as long as possible, we're going to have to put a special silencing charm on you. It's not every day one gets to do away with a member of the Golden Trio!" She could literally see the maniac gleam in the brownish blonde's eyes as his lips curled up into the scariest smile she'd ever had the displeasure of laying eyes on.

Hermione had thought of a plan. It was a long shot – if it worked at all, she would finally agree that she'd lived up to being the smartest witch to grace Hogwarts. If it didn't work, she was most certainly looking death in the face. But, then again, if she didn't try, she was still dead. And Hermione Granger was not about to go down without trying. She sidestepped once more towards the stairs so that her line of view almost completely obscured the blacked haired man with the blondish brunette's body.

Just as the man raised his wand to cast his spell, Hermione flicked her own.

"Silentium Totalus!"

"Stupefy!" Hermione shouted at exactly the same time. A bolt of red shot out of her wand and hit her tawny haired captor square in the chest, the force of which flung him into the dark haired man who was standing directly behind him from Hermione's position. The two bodies collided and flew across the floor, landing a good ten feet from Hermione. She quickly flicked her wand again to bind them, but her heart caught in her throat. Though she clearly said the binding the curse, no sound escaped her lips. She instantly tried again, this time a little louder, but again – no words, no spell. She clapped her free hand over her mouth as she remembered the last words her hijacker spoke: _special silencing charm._ _SHIT!_

She couldn't speak, therefore she couldn't use magic. Not having bothered much with non-verbal magic since Hogwarts, she was almost completely defenseless. Hermione was seriously in trouble.

_I have to get out of here before they get up!_ Almost as if he had heard her unsaid thoughts, the black haired man began to stir beneath the body of his friend. It would not be long before he got up and used the counterspell to awaken his currently unconscious chum.

Without another thought, Hermione turned on her heels and high tailed it up the stairs, flinging the door open and racing down the hall. She had no idea where she was or where she was going, but she knew nothing short of an Unforgivable was going to stop her now. She flew down the hallway, turning sharply around the corner before seeing light shine through a panel on a door at the far end. A sense of relief washed over her as she slammed into it, nearly ripping it off its hinges as she threw herself out into the street.

Straight away, she noticed people. Lots of people. They were swarming the sidewalks, crisscrossing through the avenue and piling up at intersections. This was good. She could easily lose herself in all these people. As of yet, she could not tell by this specific street corner where she was nor could she tell if this was a wizard or a muggle community, but, she reasoned, these thoughts were better saved for later, perhaps at a time when her life wasn't in immediate danger.

A scuffling sound came from behind her. Hermione turned around just in time to see the peak of the black haired man's head before she was off again, barreling down the sidewalk. She tried to be as courteous as someone running for her life could be whilst pushing and shoving people out of her way; however, as I'm sure you could imagine, that's not very courteous at all. She was met with all sorts of angry shouts and curses and she was pretty sure that the men chasing her could follow her anywhere based on just that alone.

_SMACK!_

It appeared Hermione had finally run into a body that just wouldn't give way. Either that or a brick wall. She couldn't tell which at the moment, since she was flat on her ass on the ground, but based on the impact alone, she would have bet all her money on the wall.

"Granger?!" Hermione's heart almost stopped. _There is no fucking way this is happening._ She hadn't hear that voice in nearly four years, not since she had graduated from Hogwarts, and to be totally honest, she had never really wanted to hear it again. Yet here it was. Rudely protruding on her ear drums. She looked up and, sure enough, she found a sneer paired with two steel eyes glaring down menacingly at her. _Malfoy_. "Why don't you watch where the fuck you're going!"

Hermione threw herself back onto her feet (which was quite a feat in itself considering she was still wearing 3 inch pumps and a pencil skirt that felt tight enough to be painted on right about now) and was just about to tell Draco off when the sound of a lot of swearing and yelling behind her brought her back to her present problem. Running for her life.

Draco, meanwhile, was watching her carefully. He fully expected some kind of snide rebuttal to his previous rude comment, yet there she stood, saying nothing. He thought she had been about to speak, but suddenly her mouth clamped shut and her eyes grew wide… in fear? He wasn't sure. He didn't have much time to figure it out, though, considering she whirled around and gasped at whatever now held her attention.

He raised his eyes to see the commotion she was staring at. Two men, it seemed, were running down the crowded sidewalk, thrusting people to the wayside like rag dolls in their wake. And they were headed straight for them. Draco looked down at Hermione, clearly distressed, and then looked back up at the men again. They were getting closer.

Hermione, for the first time in her life, had no idea what to do. Yeah, she could continue to run, but at this rate they were going to catch up to her eventually. She couldn't apparate anywhere, they obviously knew where she lived and where she worked and she wasn't about to risk her parents or her friends lives for her own. Harry and Ron were both countries away. Her mind was a complete and utter blank. She was going to die. Fuck, she was seriously going to die!

She turned back around to look one last time at Malfoy. How ironic was it that he was the last person she would ever see? Actually, now that she was thinking about it, she must have really done something to piss off God or Merlin or whatever force it was that was watching over them. Draco Malfoy? Really? Had she done something truly horrible in her life? But whatever, right now she didn't have the time to be picky and would take whatever friendly face she could. Even if said 'friendly face' was at present scowling in her direction. _I can't believe this is going to be the last happy- er, _neutral_ moment of my life…_

When Draco saw the look in her eyes, it actually scared him – though, of course he would never admit it. He had _never_ seen her look like that before. She was… giving up? Giving up what, he couldn't be sure, but he was fairly certain whatever it was had to do with the men still plowing their way towards them. It would only be a few more seconds before they were upon them. He didn't know why he did it. Something in his gut just didn't sit right with him leaving her like that. So he did the first thing that popped into his mind. He grabbed Hermione, pulled her close and instantly apparated them both to his apartment.

Review? Perhaps? (:


	3. Cursed

A/N: nothing new, just fixing a few mistakes I found!

Chapter Three

The first emotion Hermione felt was: confusion. Where were all the people? Her soon-to-be-murderers? Her imminent death? All these thoughts quickly filtered out of her mind, though, as a calming sense of relief flooded her body. She was alive. She was alive? Fuck yeah, she was ALIVE! Wait – how was she alive again? Immediately, she realized that she had her savior locked in a death grip, one which he was most obviously none too happy about.

"You can let go of me any time now, Granger," Draco hissed. Unfortunately, he was just now coming to terms with the fact that all split second decisions have consequences. His seemed to take on the shape of a bossy, bushy haired know-it-all clutching him like the jaws of life. What in the name of Merlin possessed him to bring this prissy bint back to his apartment anyhow? He must have had a temporary lapse of sanity.

Hermione snatched her hands back, clenching them into fists and holding them tight to her chest. _Did Malfoy just save me? _ For obvious reasons, these words did not compute. Her brain was sending her back an error message. Cancel or Retry?

"So are you going to tell me what's going on or are you going to just stand there gaping like an idiot?" Draco's harsh words snapped Hermione out of her mini-reverie. One thing was for sure: whether he saved or her not, he was most definitely still a wanker.

"I do not gape-" was as far as Hermione got before remembering her other little problem. She couldn't speak.

"What?" Draco was giving her a look that was both disgusted and confused. Was she trying to be funny? He saw her lips moving, but she wasn't saying anything.

Hermione glowered. _Ugh! How am I supposed to get through to this MORON?! I'd have better luck teaching sign language to a blind blast-ended skrewt!_

"I can't talk," she mouthed, jabbing a finger towards her mute oral cavity.

Now, however, Draco was straight up glaring at her. So she wasn't even going to talk to him, huh? Thought she was too high and mighty to be saved by the likes of a lowly Slytherin? Was this some kind of joke to her? Well, she could just go fuck herself for all he cared.

Hermione could easily see him beginning to seethe with anger, so she quickly tried again, this time moving her lips slowly over each word.

"I. Can't. Talk." Unluckily for Hermione, Draco had had all he could take of what he presumed to be her condescending bitch attitude.

"You know what? Fuck off, Granger!" Draco shouted, pretty much directly into her face. "I don't know what the fuck I was thinking back there, but thank you for reminding me what good deeds will get you – a fucking headache!" At this, he spun around and headed towards the door. Once his hand reached the handle, he shouted out to her without even turning around. "Have a great fucking life, Granger. I'm sure you're still smart enough to show yourself out."

And then he was gone, leaving Hermione to stand there red-faced and sputtering.

_That stupid, simple, irritating, self-righteous PRAT!!_ She was just about to walk right out that door before comprehension hit her like a ton of proverbial bricks. She had nowhere to go. She slowly began to turn around, taking in the sight before her. Draco's apartment was nothing short of breath-taking, though she was surprised that it didn't scream Malfoy like she would have assumed. Obviously it screamed wealth, but not the sort of pretentious, haughty pureblood wealth that the Malfoy name brought to mind.

She found herself to be in a large, open space that held both the kitchen and the living room. Behind her, the wall was made up entirely of floor-to-ceiling windows, giving her a spectacular bird's eye view of the sprawling city below. She briefly chanced a look before concluding that she didn't recognize a single building. She was undisputedly no longer in London. She turned around again, noting the beautiful hardwood floors and the cool gray of the marble countertops in the kitchen. Hermione had to admit, though Malfoy lacked more admirable traits like, say, manners and intelligence, the man at least had style.

Slowly, as if one more step might set of a Malfoy-rigged booby trap, she made her way to one of the stools at the island that separated the kitchen space from the living room. After carefully setting her weight into the closest chair, she began to put that immense brain of hers to work.

She couldn't go home. That much was obvious. Her attackers apparently knew where she lived in order to send her the fake call-in she received earlier that morning. They also knew where she worked, considering that was where she had come into contact with their portkey. What else did they know about her? Did they know where her parents lived? She let out a sigh of relief knowing that this was probably not the case. She had never, not even once, given out the address of her childhood home. Nor had she ever given someone so much as their first names – with the exception of her close friends, like Harry and Ron, of course.

Harry and Ron. She was suddenly thankful that they were thousands of miles away. They would have been the first two people she would have turned to and that would not really come as a surprise to anyone. Her kidnappers would have most likely looked for her to be with them first. Gratefully, they weren't around for her to endanger. But that did not mean they could not help her. She instantly perked up. She would write them a letter! Explain everything! Harry would know what to do.

Hermione jumped up out of her perch and jogged quickly through the living room and down the hall, since that was the only way to go. There were a few doors on either side of her. All she had to do was find some parchment and a quill. She opened the first door on her left. It was a magnificent bathroom. _Wow_ and _Huge_ were two of the first words that popped into her mind. She closed the door, however, knowing full well that there would be no parchment in that particular room, but made a mental note to revisit it before she left the house for good. Who doesn't love magnificent bathrooms?

The next door she tried across the hall contained one of the most striking guest bedrooms she had ever seen. She knew immediately that it was, in fact, a guest bedroom because there was no sense of personal identity within its confines. She half-expected Malfoy's room to be plastered in Slytherin logos with complementing Dark Mark™ wallpaper. She wasted no time in closing that door as well.

Finally, Hermione struck gold with door number three. Behind it, she found a study. An enormous study with shelves for walls, all brimming with books. To the left was a large, mahogany desk littered with parchment, quills and other wizard office supplies. She strode over to it and hastily sifted through its drawers, pulling out all of the materials she would need.

_Hmm… how should I even start this?_ Hermione was still standing, leaning on the desk with one hand while she dipped the tip of her quill into an opened pot of ink. Just as she was about to sprawl out the first word, _Harry_, something happened that caused her current uplifted mood to deteriorate rather instantaneously. As soon as the point of the quill touched the paper, the entire feather simply turned to dust. Hermione stared at what was once her writing utensil and paled considerably as a thought occurred to her.

She wasn't just unable to talk. She was unable to _communicate_.

Hermione fell into the chair by the desk as her world started to slowly collapse around her. She couldn't talk. She couldn't write. How was she supposed to get help? She _needed _help right now. She was woman enough to admit it.

Crumbling the unused piece of parchment, Hermione threw it angrily across the room before slamming both fists on the desk. Little tears of frustration made their way down her cheeks without permission. _I shouldn't be crying._ She roughly swiped the moisture from her cheeks._ Sitting here crying in Malfoy's study isn't going to get me anywhere. _

Wait a second. Wait a _second_! Malfoy! That was it! He was it! Malfoy was her help! Of course, he didn't know it yet, but he soon would. No one would _ever_ look for her at _Malfoy's._ Hell, she could hardly believe she was there. It was the perfect place for her to hide until she could figure out how to counterspell whatever hex she was under.

There was a slight snag, however. Hermione knew she wouldn't be able to just thank him and be on her way once she was normal again. Malfoy would want something in return. Her setback now was that she had absolutely nothing to offer him. Since the war had ended with him more with the good guys than the bad (though he never actually _claimed_ a side), he had not been sent to Azkaban alongside his father nor had he been deemed a war hero. He was able to return to a state of relative normalcy. As far as she had heard, Draco Malfoy had had a pretty stellar couple of past years working as an auror for the Ministry of Magic. In fact, he had even worked alongside Harry and Ron on occasion.

_I'm going to just have to play on his kindness…_ Hermione stopped walking back towards the living room for a second as her previous thought sunk in. _Shit, I'm going to have to pray that he HAS any kindness to play upon! Merlin, I'm so screwed…_

-------------------

Draco Malfoy was in a right foul mood. He was in such a bad state that he actually found himself walking to work. Walking! He had made it three blocks from his apartment before he realized what he was doing and furiously apparated himself to his office.

The sheer NERVE of that stupid Gryffindor priss! He was about 98% sure that he had done her a favor in apparating her out of the streets. For her to not even _talk_ to him? He was so angry he was pretty sure he could walk up to the nearest living thing and kill it with his bare hands in fifteen seconds or less.

His sullen mood did not go unnoticed by his coworkers. Not a single person spoke to him all day. Well, almost. One lady made the mistake of letting him know what a beautiful day it was and as far as anyone knew, she was still crying in the girls' bathroom, second stall from the left.

Although he knew he should let it go, Draco just couldn't get over the fact that Granger would treat him like that. Especially considering he had, for the first time in his life, done something out of his way for her. He should have been drowned in her fucking praises! Better yet, he should have left her in the fucking street to begin with! As much as he tried to dismiss the way he was feeling, he simply couldn't shake it. And then that just pissed him off more.

Mercifully, his day passed without delay. When the sun was just starting to set, sending orange rays in waves through the cracks in his blinds, Draco finally pushed himself away from his desk, grabbed his briefcase and apparated home.

He was so worn out from being indescribably mad all day that he didn't even notice the lithe little body draped over one of his black leather armchairs. Sighing heavily, Draco walked over to the island countertop and laid down his briefcase with one hand while loosening his tie with the other. It was then that a stir to his left caught his attention.

"Granger?!" Draco felt as if he'd been forced to say her name way too many times today.

Hermione had been so lost in the book she had filched from Malfoy's library that she hadn't even heard him apparate in. She knew she only had a window of five – maybe ten seconds at most to act before he more than likely hexed her. And she had been hexed quite enough for one day, thank you.

"What the hell are you still doing here?" Malfoy spat as she scrambled up from the armchair and came barreling towards him. "I thought it was fairly clear I was telling you to _leave_ earlier? Apparently that Head Girl brain of yours has turned to mush." He had little time to say much else, due to the fact that Hermione had already covered the short distance between them and was now kneeling on the stool next to him so that their faces were level and mere inches apart.

"I'll scream rape, you know," Draco declared, eyeing her suspiciously. She was getting uncomfortably close to him. Hermione rolled her eyes in response and sucked in a deep breath. _You can do this. You can do this. Just remember to wash your hands afterwards._ With that, Hermione grabbed Draco's face between her palms, forcing him to look directly at her.

Now Draco was thoroughly befuddled. What the hell was she doing? He hadn't the slightest clue so he decided to voice this.

"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded as his hands flew up to cover hers on his face, trying to displace them and squirm from her grasp. Hermione shook his head once with her hands to get his attention. This seemed to work, for he stopped wriggling for a second and looked at her. Briefly, she removed one hand to point at his eyes and then point at her mouth before she put it back on the side of his face.

Draco was now questioning the witch's mental competency. Had she finally snapped? He was sure he would have heard about it if it were true, though, admittedly, he had been a little busy with work lately and hadn't read a single sentence of the past week's _Daily Prophet_s. This would definitely have been headline news. _Golden Girl Gone Deranged._

Hoping that the third time really was the charm, Hermione began to slowly mouth the only three words that made any sense in the current state of her world.

"I. Can't. Talk." Draco looked at her oddly, one eyebrow askew. Once again, like before, her lips were moving, but no sound was coming out. He looked up to her eyes to see what she was trying to pull, but, strangely enough, he didn't find any traces of insincerity. Instead, her eyes were conveying… desperation? Frustration? He reverted his gaze back down to her mouth.

She had a rather pretty mouth, he noted. The kind that models smiling in ads for teeth whiteners had. Fleetingly, he wondered why such a mouth had been wasted on Granger when Merlin knows she wasn't putting it to good use.

Hermione let a sigh slip through her clenched jaw. _This isn't working. The prick's dumber than a drunk puffskein! _Suddenly, though, Hermione was struck with an idea. _If this doesn't work,_ she thought as she removed her hands from Draco's face, _then I'm resigning myself to the life of a mute._

Hopping off the chair, Hermione reached down and snatched one of Draco's hands. Before he could open his mouth to protest, she jerked his hand harshly, forcing him to trail along behind her as she dragged him to her destination. She flung open the second door on the left without hesitation and dropped Malfoy's hand while she made a beeline for the desk.

"Have you been snooping through my house, Granger?" Draco inquired, appalled indignation apparent in his voice. He hadn't missed the fact that she seemed to know exactly where she was going. "I better not be missing any underwear!" he huffed. Hermione snorted, rolled her eyes again and continued to rummage through his desk.

Draco stood there with his arms crossed as he watched her, tapping his foot. Just what the hell was she doing? If she didn't give him an explanation soon, he would… he would… well, he didn't really know yet what he would do, but he knew it most certainly would be better for her not to find out.

_Aha!_ Hermione had found everything she was looking for. She set the whole lot in a pile on the desk and then turned to grab Draco again. He was about to say something, more than likely something rude, but Hermione slapped a hand over his mouth before he could get a word out. He narrowed his eyes at her as she removed her hand. Draco Malfoy did _not_ like being shut up. She pointed to his eyes once more and then to the quill she now held in her right hand.

Draco watched as she dipped the quill into the ink and brought it to a piece of parchment. However, when the tip of the quill touched the paper, something peculiar happened. It simply disintegrated in her hand. He raised an eyebrow again.

"Do you have any idea how much those quills cost, Granger?" Hermione narrowed her eyes at his stupidity before nearly shoving her hand into his chest as she showed him what was left of the quill in her palm. Suddenly it all clicked for Draco. The not talking, the being an arrogant bitch, the quill destruction-

"You've been cursed," he concluded aloud. Hermione nodded her head vigorously and clapped her hands together in front of her chest, sending a puff of dust still left over from the quill through the air. _FINALLY!_ She was so happy she could kiss the stupid git! She wouldn't though, of course. _Yuck._

"You can't talk?" Draco questioned, though he already knew the answer. Hermione shook her head once. _No._ "And you obviously can't write." Hermione almost smirked at him. _Obviously._

"So, what? You can't communicate at all?" Draco guessed, one hand resting thoughtfully on his chin. He had never heard of such a curse, but that was not to say that one didn't exist. Hermione shook her head again, sighing lightly. They both stood there then for a few seconds, before Draco broke the silence.

"Who did this to you?" He spoke very softly when he said this and it was for that reason that Hermione brought her eyes back to his face. It was weird. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought he actually seemed concerned. Good thing she knew he had no heart. Draco Malfoy didn't care about anyone but himself. In response to his question, however, she turned her palms out and shrugged. _I don't really know._ Draco thought for a few more seconds.

"Was it those men in the street?" Again his voice was soft. This time it had the opposite effect as Hermione let her gaze fall to the floor. She nodded her head once with her eyes downcast. _Yes…_

Draco was once again back in his thoughts. So Granger couldn't communicate, huh? It was sort of ironic, when he thought about it. The girl who lived to boss people around was now incapable of doing so. Under any other circumstances, he would have probably had a good laugh over that. But it seemed that something bigger was going on here.

This wasn't just some school-yard prank. He didn't think those men were exactly planning on letting her get away. She was clearly escaping from them when she ran into him. The only reason he could think of for using a silencing charm would be the obvious: they didn't want anyone to hear her screams. They were out to hurt her, more than likely kill her. If she had anywhere else to go, he knew for a fact she would definitely not still be here, standing in his study. Still, the idea of her hanging around in his apartment for Merlin knows how long was more than a little unsettling. But he couldn't exactly throw her out on the streets, now could he? They could very well still be out there, in this very city.

Damn his inherent chivalrous nature! He was irrefutably a God amongst men. He half sighed, half growled as he brought his thumb and forefinger to press against the bridge of his nose.

"You can stay here, Granger." He had to literally force himself the say the words. They must have sounded a little odd since he had basically choked them out.

Hermione looked up, wide-eyed with surprise. She hadn't even figured out a way to ask him yet. _How could he have possibly known?_ Apparently, it was causing him physical pain to say it, so instead of dwell on things she'd probably never understand, she simply nodded her head in acceptance.

"Right." He turned around then, heading for the door. Maybe if he got some sleep, he would wake up tomorrow morning to find that this whole day had been a dream. No, scratch that. A nightmare. "I'm turning in. You can stay in the guest bedroom. I'm sure you know where it is." He glanced over his shoulder back at her, quirking an eyebrow. Hermione clasped her hands behind her back and grinned impishly, putting on a show of faux innocence.

"Right," he said again and with a shake of his head, he was out the door and out of Hermione's view. Once he was gone, Hermione released her hands and let them fall limply to her sides. _Now what?_ It appeared that she was safe indefinitely. That part had gone over smoother than she could have ever imagined. _But _now_ what?_ She needed a plan. A course of action. But right now it would seem that what she needed most of all was a good night's sleep. _Maybe something will come to me in the morning!_ she thought optimistically as she walked slowly from the study to her new sleeping quarters.

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thanks goes out to **elliemalfoy**_, _**swfap88**, **margaritama**, **booth seeley booth**, **jesmalfoy**, and **xAaliyahsDarkAngelx** for their reviews! (: thankkkk youuuu! Hope you enjoyed this!

Oh and a little A/N: whenever you see full sentences written in italics – those are hermione's thoughts! I wasn't sure if this was clear or not. Sometimes I just explain her thoughts and other times I want you to know them word for word since she obviously isn't getting any dialogue any time soon! Just making sure everyone knows (:


	4. Wandless

Chapter Four

Hermione stretched lazily before curling up in a tight little ball on her side as sleep began to release its hold of her. She was almost fully conscious now, but she didn't want to have to open her eyes just yet. Still, she knew she should get up sooner rather than later. Who knows what Merlin had in store for her today?

Unfortunately, the events of the previous day were not lost on her in sleep and she woke up knowing exactly where she was and how she got there. Sighing in defeat, Hermione finally raised her eyelids to face the day. The room she was in looked no different than it had the night before, except now the morning light filtered in through the blinds and dappled golden designs across the sheets of the bed.

Though she didn't know why or how she even could, Hermione was actually feeling somewhat guilty for having intruded on Malfoy's home. They hadn't even spoken in what? Four years? Yet here she was, making herself comfortable in his guest bedroom while also quite possibly endangering his life. That last part she wasn't too concerned with though. Or at least she was trying to tell herself that.

The most confusing part was that he had even allowed it. _Suggested it, no less!_ Hermione simply couldn't wrap her enormous brain around it. The Draco Malfoy she knew and despised would have rather hexed _himself_ than spend a single night within fifty feet of his most hated Gryffindor-ess nemesis – not offer her a guest suite!

…But that was just it, wasn't it?

She was still thinking of him in terms of the self-involved, seventeen-year-old git she had known in Hogwarts, yet they hadn't been a part of each other's lives for quite a while now. A lot of things had happened during that seemingly small period of time and The Fall had changed a lot of people – her included. Was it possible it had changed Malfoy too?

She had to admit, though he had been brash and highly irritating, he had only personally insulted her a couple of times and had as of yet to refer to her by that horrid word even once. It would have been near impossible for him to go ten seconds without throwing her heritage in her face back in school, let alone the at least thirty minutes total they had spent in contact yesterday. _Is that even possible?_

It's not like she was expecting any miracles, but seeing as how he hadn't made her cry or anything yet, Hermione decided to ease up on her opinion of him – just a little. With this thought fresh in her mind, she tried to think of what she would do if the man down the hall was anyone _other_ than Draco Malfoy.

She groaned out loud and squeezed her eyes shut as she realized why she really felt guilty – Malfoy had done her a favor and for some asinine reason, she felt the need to _thank_ him! To literally thank the Slytherin Prince of Darkness himself! Stupid morals. What exactly were her parents thinking when they instilled them in her again? That they would ever do her some good?! Fat chance of that!

_Fine! _she snapped, caving into her internal pressure, _I'll thank him! Somehow… Of course, it would be just far too easy for me to say it or write it and be done with it. Maybe I can pop out for a minute and pick him up a Thank You note_… Hermione's inner monologue paused as she saw a vision of Malfoy laughing maniacally while viciously setting fire to a hallmark card with cute little puppies on it play through her mind's eye. _Or maybe not…_

Sitting up, Hermione grabbed the corner of the comforter and lifted the sheets from her body as she slid out of the bed. She stretched her arms above her head one last time before padding over to the dresser where she had left her folded clothes last night. Having no other articles of clothing with her and not wanting to wrinkle the ones that she had, Hermione had opted to sleep in her underwear that night. However she would have to look into getting some other pieces of clothing soon. She shivered to think what kind of hideous scenario would ensue if Malfoy were to ever catch her in her knickers.

So after dressing and remaking the bed, Hermione slipped her wavy brown locks up into a messy ponytail and tiptoed out the door with a new plan in mind. After all, the sooner she apologized, the sooner she could focus on her much bigger problems.

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"Fuck." Draco's first word of the day. Normally, his days started out better. Then again, normally there wasn't a mute-yet-somehow-still-just-as-obnoxious Gryffindor girl sleeping right down the hall. Draco quickly pushed himself off his stomach as memories of the previous night encroached their way into his groggy mind. Oh yeah, that's right. The Virginal Princess of Gryffindor herself was slumbering not fifty feet from him.

'Maybe it was all just a dream,' he hoped bleakly, though he knew that all hopes were completely futile at this point. He turned his attention to his bedroom door, momentarily wondering if Granger was going to come bounding straight threw when she awoke. He wouldn't put it past her - she was impetuous like that. When nothing happened, however, Draco finally forced himself to get ready for the day.

"I need to get laid," he muttered as he headed towards the adjoining bathroom.

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Draco was busy trying to knot his tie with one hand while simultaneously tucking his shirt in with the other when he reached the kitchen, which would explain why he hadn't noticed Granger till just that moment. She was standing at the counter with her back to him (wearing her clothes from the day before he noted), fiddling with some metallic circles with long handles. It actually took him a few seconds to figure out what was going on and it was the smell that eventually tipped him off. She was _cooking_. The muggle way. He'd never seen it done before and, he hated to admit, he was slightly impressed. Did muggles really go through all that trouble for some breakfast? Thankfully, however, that feeling only lasted a moment. Draco then briefly wondered where she had acquired the tools she was using before at last regaining his senses.

"If you wanted to be a house elf so badly, I could have easily arranged for you to stay with them instead, Granger." He shot her a smug little smirk when she turned around to glare at him and proceeded to seat himself at the island, resolved to ignore her.

Hermione had to keep herself restrained, lest she gave into the sudden urge to hop over the island and beat Malfoy's face in with her spatula. Her glare turned into a smirk of her own as she settled on happily envisioning it instead.

She had decided that the easiest, fastest and most convenient way to show her… gratitude –_ Ew!_ – would be to simply make him breakfast. The worst he could do was refuse to eat it, which was fine by her. As long as her conscience was clear, she didn't care if he choked on it so long as she could later devote all of her attention to more pressing matters. Like her inability to speak, for one. Or like the fact that when she didn't show up for work today, nothing short of the entire wizarding world was going to be looking for her.

Just as Draco was about to set his plate down for his usual morning breakfast to appear, Hermione snatched it from his hands. Before he could voice a single annoyance, she had returned it to him, now brimming with food from the stove.

At first, Draco stared at it, confused. She was… what? Making him breakfast? _Him?_ No, that couldn't be right. This definitely had to be some kind of trick. Then again, what exactly did she have to gain by harming him right now? He had just taken her in for Merlin's sake! Still…

"You're not trying to poison me, are you?" Draco asked warily as he eyed up a weird concoction that looked to be toasted bread with an egg center. When he poked a piece of sausage with his finger, Hermione huffed audibly which brought his gaze back to her. She had her arms crossed over her chest and, to be honest, was looking nothing short of pissed off at his obvious lack of faith. Before he could say another word to insult her, Hermione's hand shot out and snatched a piece of bacon which she then shoved unceremoniously into her mouth. Draco almost laughed out loud, when, after she had swallowed, she opened her mouth wide and stuck out her tongue to prove to him that she had indeed eaten her own food. He quickly turned it into a scoff, though, and added an eye roll for good measure.

"Alright," he half-sneered as he picked up a fork, "Though the joke's on you if I die – no one else is gonna be around to save your sorry ass." He looked at her one last time to check for any signs of suspicious behavior before diving in. Really, he was curious to find out how this food would taste. When he didn't immediately spit anything out, Hermione 'hmph!'-ed her triumph and, with a victorious smile playing on her lips, turned around to get her own plate.

Shockingly, Draco found Granger's food to be slightly more than just edible - it was actually quite good. He particularly liked the toast/egg combo thing she had going on and he made a mental note to alert his house elves of this new breakfast delicacy. In fact, he was so engrossed in his critique of the muggle-made food that he didn't even notice when Hermione had taken her laden plate and sat on the stool directly next to his. So needless to say, he was pretty freaked out when he looked up and realized they had been eating side-by-side in an almost _companionable_ silence for at least the past five minutes now.

Well, this most certainly wouldn't do.

"Granger," Draco suddenly snapped, causing Hermione's wide eyes to focus now on him instead of the piece of cantaloupe she'd been maiming. "I know you'd like to sit on my lap and all, but if you could please keep a respectable distance away from my body at all times, I think we could manage to get through this ghastly time together without me having to kill you myself." Feeling much better with the current situation – him insulting her, her sitting there with her mouth hanging open in shock – Draco magically cleaned his plate, grabbed his briefcase and jacket and with one last mocking wink in her direction, apparated himself to his office . And of course, he was smirking the whole time.

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_That arrogant ungrateful fucking prick!!_ Hermione was still fuming and it had been about a good hour since their little breakfast fiasco - brought to you by moral values! Yeah! Stand up, take a bow!

She had been stunned speechless when he had lashed out at her like that. Not that she could have said anything even if she hadn't been speechless, but the point was his little outburst was _completely_ unwarranted! Hell, she hadn't done a thing to a provoke him! She was just sitting there, minding her own damn business and eating her own damn food - which she had _shared_ with him! Let's not forget that! The only thing she had been was nice to the bastard. _And trust me, I won't be making THAT mistake twice!_

Hermione had raved and ranted ever since he had apparated away, yet she still felt the strong urge to break something. And she would have done so, too, if she hadn't been more than a little unsure of the repercussions that action might bring. For all she knew, Malfoy would be so pissed, he'd kick her out. And then where would she be? Fucked! Totally fucked, that's where she'd be!

Rubbing her temples with both hands, she paced back and forth in front of the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows. The abundance of light and beautiful scenery helped calm her frazzled nerves and cool her anger. Breathing out all the rest of her tension (a trick she had learned from a yoga class she had taken with her mother over the summer), she found herself feeling way more composed and ready to focus on getting herself the hell out of the mess she was in. The sooner she solved her problems, the sooner she could say bye-bye to ferret boy.

First things first: Who would want to kill her? Hermione visibly baulked from that question. A better one would be: Who _didn't_ want to kill her? She was pretty sure she had more enemies than Fidel Castro. From ex-death eaters and Lord Voldemort supporters to dirty lawyers and all the criminals she had put behind bars – it was really anybody's guess. Still, she just _knew_ she had seen those two men somewhere before. They weren't friends or even acquaintances, but she knew she had seen them in passing someway, somehow. Her brain just couldn't seem to make the right neural connection.

Hermione heaved a sigh as she deemed that train of thought to be a temporary dead end and switched gears to her next biggest problem: her lack of a functioning means of communication. Or rather, all the problems that that problem caused. She couldn't speak. She couldn't write. She didn't know a single thing about the curse that did this to her and she had no real clue as to how to counteract it. But none of that bothered her as much as being unable to perform magic did. Not once had Hermione felt as helpless as she had the other day in that basement, so sure her life had come to an abrupt end, and she swore that she would never feel that way again.

_So that's it then!_ Hermione clapped her hands together as a course of action worked its way through her mind. Today, she would spend her time brushing up on wandless magic. She remembered from her time at Hogwarts that it took quite a while and a bit of practice to really be able to do anything worthwhile with it, but was she not the brightest witch of her age? Surely she of all people would be able to get the hang of it in no time at all! Hermione smiled then and streaked out of the room, intent on raiding Malfoy's personal library for anything at all useful.

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'Finally,' Draco thought exasperatedly. His day was slowly drawing to a close. Thankfully he hadn't made anyone cry this time, though technically he still had 45 minutes left. It was still a very real possibility. He sure felt like making a lot people cry in this stupid building. He had been working there undercover for the past month and a half at least, doing all the boring assignments and projects that were asked of him by his "boss," yet there was not a single sign of anything mischievous going on. Still his real boss had refused to pull him off the case, stating that he had been tipped off by a very reliable source.

'If there are any ex-death eaters in this office, they've either been bored to death by the copious amounts of unnecessary paperwork or they've hung themselves with their own neckties once they laid eyes on the sea of highly unattractive women right outside that door,' he sarcastically deduced as he straightened a pile of papers on his desk.

Slowly Draco rubbed his hand over his face and thought once again about Granger, alone in his house. His thoughts had traveled to her way too many times for his liking today. The fact that he had thought about her even once was one time too many! What the hell was going on with him? He seriously needed to get laid, he decided, that's what was going on. All of this tension with Granger had him strung up tighter than a piano wire. It looked like he'd be making a quick stop at the club on his way home tonight. He smirked at last, thinking smugly about the hard-earned sexual release he had coming his way.

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Hermione had practiced wandless magic all day. Literally. All day. She hadn't even eaten a thing since breakfast! Yet all she seemed to be able to do for her troubles was _Accio_ her wand and other small objects to her outstretched hand. What the _fuck_ was up with that?! She tried to focus on the positive, however. _Think about all the ways this can help you, Hermione. Like, say a mugger is chasing you down the street. You can Accio yourself a match and set him on fire!_ For some reason, Hermione really did feel a little better thinking that. It was probably due to malnourishment. Still, she was just too exhausted to eat right now.

Checking the digital clock that hung over the far wall, Hermione realized how truly late it was. 11:09 pm. Was it odd that Malfoy hadn't returned yet? She bit her bottom lip, wondering if she should be worried or not. Then again, why should she worry at all? She was pretty sure the world would be way better off without him. Still… she hoped that he wasn't in any kind of danger. Especially not because of her. Maybe he always stayed out this late? But yesterday he had come home way earlier. But maybe he was just working late tonight? But what if he was in trouble?! Should she check in on him? Make sure he was okay? Check in on him how!? She didn't even know where he was! But maybe she should – wait – no – _STOP!_

Hermione squeezed her eyes shut tight and curled her hands into little fists as she forcibly stopped her mind from overreacting. _There's nothing I can do to help if he's in trouble. And even if I could help, I don't even know where he is. I'm sure he's fine. He probably just doesn't want to come home to see me here. Yeah, that's probably what it is. Wait – why do I even care!? I'm just gonna go to bed, wake up in the morning and try to ignore him as much as possible. _With her will resolved, Hermione opened her eyes and let her hands loosen as she unconsciously gazed back at the clock. 11:11.

She sighed wearily at what she knew she must do next. It felt wrong to do so, traitorous even, but Hermione closed her eyes again and made a wish. _I hope wherever Malfoy is, he's okay._ With her conscience feeling slightly relieved - but her stomach feeling slightly nauseous - she gradually made her way down the hall to what was fast becoming her new room. _Oh joy._

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It was the noise that woke Hermione up. At first she thought she had imagined it, maybe even dreamt it, but then she heard it again. She raised her head from her pillow and held her breath in an attempt to hear better. _There it is again!_ It sounded like something scuffling in the living room. _Shit!_ Hermione glanced over her shoulder to see what time it was. Only 1:37 am. Her head jerked back to the door as she heard it again. Someone was definitely in the apartment.

_Shit! Shit! Shit! _Hermione noiselessly threw herself out of the bed and made a grab at her shirt. Her eyes traveled frantically through her room, looking for something she could use in self-defense. _Of course he wouldn't have a baseball bat, Hermione, only muggles play baseball!_ Once she finished buttoning up her shirt (it took her a couple tries because her hands kept fumbling over the holes), she dashed over to the closet door and wrenched it open. She hadn't had a need to look in it before, but now that there was clearly no usable weapon around her bed, this was her last resort.

Her heart swelled with happiness when her eyes landed on a broom leaning up in the corner. This was doable. It was probably the next best thing to a baseball bat. She seized it from the closet and darted to her skirt. Before her hand reached it, however, she heard another noise. This one louder and it sounded like a body hitting something leather. _Like the leather couches!_ That's when she realized that there were _two_ people in the living room. Someone throwing another someone onto the couch. _Malfoy_.

She glanced regretfully at her skirt before deciding that if Malfoy died all because she didn't want him seeing her in her knickers, she would never forgive herself – though this wasn't exactly the "hideous situation" she had been imagining earlier that day. Her shirt was long enough to cover most of her underwear, anyway, and it's not like anyone would try to cop a feel while they were both being attacked. She certainly couldn't just let Malfoy die. Not because of her. Even if he was the biggest ass in the world, his death would not be on her hands. Rallying on that last thought, Hermione flung the bedroom door open and snuck quickly down the hall.

She could feel her heart beating in her lungs and could practically taste the adrenaline pumping through her veins as she clutched onto the broom's handle for dear life, twisting it continually within her clamy hands. After what seemed like forever (but was really only 4 seconds), she finally reached the point where the hall opened up into the living room. It was very dark, with only the city outside the windows giving any light to the room. Faintly, she could distinguish what looked like two bodies on the leather sofa, one sitting almost completely on top of the other. Then she heard a new sound, a strangled moan that sent a tinge of fear down her spin.

_Oh my Merlin! He's choking him! That must be why I didn't hear him use magic! Shit! Shit! Shit! I've gotta act fast!_ Hermione hastily crept the last remaining steps to the sofa and raised the broomstick into position high over her head. She was going to bash this thing right down over the guy's stupid head! Hopefully that would give Malfoy enough time to regain whatever was left of his consciousness and use his wand on the bastard.

Just as she was about to cause this guy one serious headache, something happened. A cloud must have moved away from the moon or something, because suddenly, the room was illuminated just a bit more than it had been previously and though it wasn't that much of a difference, it was enough for Hermione to discern a couple key things. Like a) the man on top of Malfoy wasn't a man at all, it was a woman - a very scantily clad woman b) if this lady was in anyway strangling him, it would have most certainly been with her tongue and c) she (Hermione) was a fucking moron.

_You've gotta be fucking me._

"Granger?" Hermione looked down in horror to see that Malfoy and his little whore (since any girl who gets with Malfoy must obviously be a whore) were both boring holes into her with their eyes. She, in turn, had completely frozen under their gaze with the broom raised over her head, poised to strike. "What the fuck are you doing?"

Draco was giving her that look again that clearly questioned her mental capabilities while the blonde bimbo just looked a little put off at the abrupt interruption. Hermione just stood there as she waited for her body to catch up with her mind. _No danger! I repeat, no danger_! But her body was taking its good old time. Her heart was still pounding a tattoo into her ribs, her breathing was still quick and her adrenaline-heighten senses refused to let her release the broom. So she settled on slowly lowering it to the ground while wishing she could curl up into a whole and die somewhere.

"What is she? Stupid?" bimbo blonde asked, raising one eyebrow to look at Draco. He just shrugged in response, deciding that this was probably as good an explanation as any. As Hermione released the broom from one hand while letting it fall limply to her side in the other, she began feeling a neurochemical floodgate of a different emotion – embarrassment. _Did I seriously just attempt to hit Malfoy's slut over the head with a broom while they were making out on the couch?!_

"Look, sweetie," the whore began in a very obvious sarcastic tone, "I don't give free shows. So why don't you take your little broom there and go fuck yourself with it. Cause that's about all the action you're gonna get, since you're sure as hell not getting _my_ man." To emphasize those last two words, she grabbed onto the collar of Malfoy's shirt and jerked him slightly closer to her. Draco, however, did not look pleased.

Hermione's brain still wasn't working properly. She registered what the hooker lady said as an insult, but instead of coming up with a witty retort, she for some reason felt hot tears stinging the corners of her eyes. What?! That wasn't right! It must be the crazy fucking array of chemicals her body was releasing into itself. It was throwing her completely out of whack! She kept sending her feet signals to move, to run, to fucking hop for Merlin's sake! But nothing was happening. She was just standing there, teary-eyed. As soon as she could move her feet again, she was going to kick herself in the ass!

Finally her legs got the fucking memo and she made a move back towards the hall. It was then, when she turned her face down and to the side, that the city lights reflected off the tears forming in her eyes and Draco caught one lone drop make a straight line down her cheek. And that's what did it for him. In one swift move, Draco had pushed the girl callously off his lap and stood up. She blinked a couple times from the floor, not fully realizing what happened, and the noise cause Hermione to stop in her tracks and turn around again.

"I am _nobody's_ man," Draco hissed dangerously, glaring at the bimbo who remained on the floor, looking highly confused. "Get the fuck out."

"But, baby-" the slutty girl began, inching her hands up his legs. Unfortunately, she didn't get very far before Draco cut her off.

"I said _get out_!" Draco stressed, pointing one hand towards the door. The lady scoffed up at him, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing, but didn't waste another second getting herself off the floor and walking towards the door. However, just as she reached it, she turned around to glare straight at Hermione.

"If he wants an ugly ass bint like you, he can fucking have you!" she snarled, opening the door behind her. "There are _plenty_ of _real_ men out there just waiting for me, so you both can go FUCK YOURSELVES!"

Throughout this unexpected scene, Hermione's body seemed to somewhat return to state of normalcy – Thank Merlin! – and as she stared down the blonde bimbo, she was wishing pretty hard for the ability to hex the sense right out of her. All of those rude comments had finally reached her fully functioning brain and she was now reasonably pissed. If she only she could do something – anything! Well, she wasn't going to let her leave without trying. So just as the stupid wench turned to walk through the door, Hermione focused all of her anger on what she wanted to do and concentrated.

"What the FUCK!" the girl shrieked as she nearly broke her ankle when the heel of her pump seemed to fall off on its own accord. She reached down, stunned, and picked up the little piece of shoe. "These shoes were 400 fucking dollars!!" The crazy bitch was nearly in hysterics now as she slammed the door behind her, screaming out one last "FUCK!!"

Hermione couldn't help it. She totally smirked evilly at the door as she listened to the girl curse her way down the corridor and out of Hermione's life forever. Draco was simply staring at her all the while, one eyebrow quirked.

"How very Slytherin of you," he mused, catching Hermione's attention and wiping the smirk from her face. She stared back at Malfoy with wide, fear-filled eyes. She knew he was going to be mad at her. He was probably going to kick her out for this! What the hell was she thinking! She switched her gaze briefly from his eyes to the broom she still held in her left hand back to his eyes again, nervously chewing her bottom lip and wondering how in the hell she was going to explain this properly.

Draco, however, was no idiot. It didn't make any sense for Granger to try to attack a girl he brought home. He knew Granger was not nor would ever be interested in him that way. Sure, he was drop dead sexy. Basically Merlin's gift to women. But he hated her and she hated him. That's just how it was.

What made more sense to him was that she thought he was being attacked. He could kind of see how she could jump to that conclusion- he comes home late, she hears noises, she freaks and thinks someone's in the apartment, she goes to his room but he's not there so she assumes he's in trouble and then finally comes to rescue him.

Actually… he felt oddly… touched. The fact that Granger would come out here with merely a _broom_ and no other means of defense to try and save his life when she didn't even like him was… weirdly warming. He needed more enemies like her. Actually, enemies don't exactly save their enemies. So maybe they weren't enemies anymore. But if they weren't enemies, what the fuck were they? He didn't have a clue, but he decided to think about these awkward new sentiments later and first find out of his assumption had been correct.

"Did you think I was in trouble, Granger?" he asked, looking curiously into her deep brown eyes. He was desperately trying not to notice her long legs poking out the bottom of her shirt. The first thing his male eyes had spotted was that she wasn't wearing any pants, of course. He was already not getting laid tonight – why make things any harder on himself?

Hermione eyes grew wide as he correctly guessed what was going on for a second time. How was it that he seemed to know exactly what she was thinking? Was he skilled in legilimency and she just didn't know? Dumbly, Hermione nodded her head.

"What were you planning to do?" Draco smirked, nodding his head down towards the broom. "Sweep him to death?" Hermione scoffed and wielded her broom like a warrior.

_This broom could be lethal in the right hands _she thought, smirking back at him. Draco actually chuckled at her silly fighter pose.

"What? Was that supposed to be intimidating?" he egged, a half smile still playing on his lips. "Whoa! I think I just saw a dust bunny run for cover!" He put his hands on either side of his face in mock horror. At this, a giggled burst past Hermione's lips and she laughed. Wait. She laughed? Immediately, Hermione brought a hand up to her mouth. She didn't even know she _could_ laugh. Was it sad that this was the first time she had laughed in 48 hours?

Turning on his heel, Draco abruptly started to make his way towards the hall and consequently his bed. Once he reached the beginning of the hall, he swirled around with his hands in his pocket and said "You should laugh more often, Granger" before disappearing into the dark hall, leaving Hermione totally astonished.

_Was that… a compliment?_ Hermione was once again unsure of the functioning of her brain. Maybe it was still not working right. She tapped the side of her head a couple times, wondering if she could somehow restart it as she, too, walked down the dark hall towards her own welcoming bed.

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Sorry this took forever! I've been really busy now that classes have started back up, but I'm going to try and get a chapter finished every weekend. (No promises though!) Hope you liked it

And thanks goes out to: **elliemalfoy**, **swfap88**, **broadwaynightowl**, **jesmalfoy**, **xaaliyahsdarkangelx**, **booth seeley booth**, **hawaiiangirl258**, **hot4edward** and **sapphire water elf princess** for their reviews! Thank you! I would love to write more to each of you, a few in particular, but I always get disappointed when I think I have a lot more to read in a chapter and then find out the author just wrote 3 pages of review comments haha so thanks again! (:


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